• The Texas school shooter wrote in Facebook messages that he was going to attack an elementary school. 
  • He also wrote that he was going to shoot his grandmother and then later shared that he had.
  • Facebook's parent company Meta said these were private messages and were not discovered until after the shooting. 

The Texas school gunman wrote on Facebook that he would shoot his grandmother and attack an elementary school just moments before the attack that left 19 children and 2 adults dead.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a press conference on Wednesday that the 18-year-old gunman posted on Facebook about 30 minutes before he reached Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. 

In his first message, he said he was going to shoot his grandmother. That post was followed by a second, saying he had shot his grandmother. 

The third post — which was posted less than 15 minutes before arriving at the school — said "I'm going to shoot an elementary school," according to Abbott.

DPS Director Steve McCraw said at the press conference that the message the gunman sent about attacking an elementary school didn't specify which school he was targeting.

Andy Stone, a communications director at Facebook's parent company Meta, later clarified that the messages sent by the shooter were private and were discovered only after the "tragedy" occurred. Stone said Meta was cooperating with law enforcement as they investigate the shooting.

 

The gunman — whom Abbott described as an 18-year-old high school dropout — had no prior criminal record, Abbott said. Abbott said investigators had yet to determine if the gunman had a known history of mental health concerns. 

Still, Abbott blamed a lack of "mental health support" for the shooting, citing conversations he had with police and the local mayor.

In addition to the 19 students and two teachers that were killed in the shooting, there were three officers injured, Abbott said. All are in good condition. Abbott said 17 people in total were injured, but none had life-threatening injuries.

Authorities have not released the names of the victims.

Read the original article on Insider